[Change of organic carbon pools and the responses to soil warming during laboratory incubations under different temperatures of 3 kinds of paddy soils in Tai Lake Region, China].

ABSTRACT

Change of soil organic carbon (SOC) storage under global warming scenarios was paid much attention of the soil and global change studies. To address the features of SOC loss of paddy soils in response to global warming, the authors used 3 representative paddy soils from the Tai Lake region, China to incubate at laboratory respectively under 20 degrees C and 25 degrees C and the change dynamics of total organic carbon(TOC), soluble organic carbon (DOC) and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) were monitored in time intervals. The TOC dynamics could be described with primary reaction equations with the constants varied with soil types and incubation temperature. While soil warming strengthened TOC loss of a Fe-leached Stagnic Anthrosol and a Gleyic Stagnic Anthrosol, no significant difference of TOC was detected in a Fe-accumulic Stagnic Anthosol under different temperature incubations. Q10 quotient, a measurement of soil SOC sensitivity to warming, of the studied soils decreased in the order 11.1-14.1 for the Gleyic Stagnic Anthrosol < 4.4-4.6 for Fe-leached Stagnic Anthrosol < 0.63-0.73 for the Fe-accumulic Stagnic Anthosol. This indicated that paddy soils could be a group of human managed soils with sensitive response to global warming, whereas the inter-soil group difference in this sensitivity may be greater than that existing between the soils from different eco-zones. The different patterns of DOC and MBC change during the incubation of the 3 studied soils were indicative of different features of soil microbial community of the studied 3 types of paddy soils, which influenced the carbon bio-availability under different temperatures. Thus, change of SOC pools due to soil warming can be accounted for not only by nature of SOC of the soils but changes of microbial activity and even the community associated with soil properties. This study evidences that SOC loss due to soil warming is not a temperature-controlled kinetically decomposition process at least. Further studies should be dedicated on the SOC loss in relation to the interactions between SOC-soil minerals-soil micro-biota.